(tar)Comparing

Portability

Write Verification

Being Careful

Comparing an Archive with the File System
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   `--compare' (`-d') compares archive members in an existing archive
with their counterparts in the file system, and reports differences in
file size, mode, owner, modification date and contents.  If a file is
represented in the archive but does not exist in the file system, `tar'
reports a difference.

   If you use FILE NAME arguments in conjunction with `tar --compare',
`tar' compares the archived versions of the files specified with their
counterparts in the file system.  If you specify a file that is not in
the archive, `tar' will report an error.  If you don't specify any
files, `tar' compares all the files in the archive.

   Because `tar' only checks files in the archive against files in the
file system, and not vice versa, it ignores files in the file system
that do not exist in the archive.

   The following example compares the archive members `larry', `moe'
and `curly' in the archive `stooges' with files of the same name in the
file system.

     tar --compare --file=stooges larry moe curly

If a file, for example `curly', did not exist in the archive, `tar'
would report an error, as follows:

     curly: does not exist